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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26575462">i know we've never met but i think i like you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightningspire/pseuds/lightningspire'>lightningspire</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>meet me again, for the last time [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Final Fantasy XIV</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, I love him, M/M, Multi, Mutual Masturbation, Porn with Feelings, Post-Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal, Sharing a Body, Unnamed Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Wet Dream, ardbert being an awkward fuck as usual, ardbert is touch starved MAN!! it's been 100 YEARS!!, implied ardbert/wol/exarch, it's about the yearning, sure it's porn but it's about the FEELINGS bro, top!g'raha</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:28:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,448</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26575462</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightningspire/pseuds/lightningspire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the morning sun, Ardbert wonders how long he can simply lie like this.</p><blockquote>
  <p>“Good morning,” the Exarch says. “Did you sleep well?”</p>
  <p>Ardbert needs to take a moment to stumble over his words, to sort out the blood racing and pumping furiously in his head.</p>
  <p>Ardbert holds the silence for just a second too long. "Still exhausted," he says, finally. "But it's better when I have you here."</p>
</blockquote>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ardbert/G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>meet me again, for the last time [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923004</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>i know we've never met but i think i like you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>an expanded version of my day 20 prompt (free choice) for FFXIVWrite. this fic is explicit NSFW, so it's being posted separately from the rest of the drabble in order to keep the former's T rating.</p><p>honest to god, i don't write nsfw often but this is a first attempt. sometimes you're just desperate for your rarepair and you gotta deliver, you know?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Most nights, Ardbert doesn’t dream. He floats aimlessly, swept up in an all-encompassing tide.</p><p>When his dreams are his own, one last sliver of himself that belongs to only himself, Ardbert dreams of the Flood. A stagnant, cold and colorless haze. The barrier at the edge of Nabaath Araeng. Minfilia. Her hands outstretched.</p><p>Most dreams, anyways. This light is warm and comforting, an unusual sensation for Ardbert. A soft sunrise pours into a room he’s never seen before, that he knows of only vaguely from the book pages that form the Warrior of Darkness’ memories. The Cloud Nine, isn’t it? Somewhere in the chill of Ishgard. His face is illuminated by fractured rays of light coming in from a singular window, curtain drawn halfway.</p><p>There’s another body beside him, stirring to lucidity. Another body who stretches his arms out and wraps them around Ardbert’s waist. A pair of fluffy Mystel ears press against Ardbert’s chest, a tail brushes against the inside of his thigh.</p><p>What a tease, Ardbert thinks. And then he thinks, afterwards, that this feels <em> familiar </em> for some reason. That this feels comfortable.</p><p>“Good morning,” the Exarch says. “Did you sleep well?”</p><p>Ardbert needs to take a moment to stumble over his words, to sort out the blood racing and pumping furiously in his head.</p><p>Ardbert holds the silence for just a second too long. "Still exhausted," he says, finally. "But it's better when I have you here."</p><p>The Exarch looks up at him, a finger dragging down Ardbert’s neck and clavicle. Ardbert tilts the Exarch’s head back with his thumb and his index finger, leaning in for a kiss. </p><p>As they break apart, the Exarch nuzzles his head into the crook of Ardbert’s neck, kissing and biting already bruised skin. In return, Ardbert rubs the inside of the Exarch's ear, his breath hitching as the latter lets out a gasp, a slight pleasured sigh from parted lips.</p><p>He starts to lose himself among the rustling fabric and tender laughs, between himself, sprawled across the bed and the Exarch heaving up against his skin, hot as coals. Comfortable is the right word; like Ardbert belongs here. </p><p>The Exarch adjusts himself, now straddled on Ardbert’s lap and thin fingers playfully rubbing his tip. He could melt away like this under the Exarch’s touch, no matter how slight, how fleeting. The Exarch’s hands wrap around both of their cocks; he strokes them lazily but with a consistent rhythm, thumb still teasing away. </p><p>They kiss again, messy, desperate. The way that you do when you know you don't have much time left. They way you do when you want more than you can be afforded. </p><p>When they pull away, the Exarch wipes a bit of spit from the side of Ardbert's mouth. His companion certainly seems amused as Ardbert's face fills with a bright red flush. The Exarch laughs and adjusts himself again, a cool whisper of a request into his neck—to which Ardbert is happy to oblige. Maybe it's all the years of wanting, of waiting so desperately for someone else's touch. Someone else's body next to his. </p><p>To Ardbert's surprise, the Exarch is quite muscular, as he spreads apart Ardbert's legs across his lap, without a single hint of struggle under his weight. Two slicked fingers tease him first, tracing the lines of his body before slipping into his ass. Wicked white, it's been too damn long since he's done this. </p><p>Once two fingers are in all the way to the knuckles, the Exarch lets the other hand explore Ardbert's face, pushing back his short, messy hair. Two piercing red eyes stay focused on every inch of him, from the scruff on his chin to an old scar on his nose to the bloody cuts on his forehead, still raw as the day they were made. </p><p>To that, the Exarch smirks. "You have such a handsome face, I could never tire of looking at it," he says. Quickly, the Exarch leans in and gives Ardbert a kiss on the nose, right above the scar. </p><p>Eventually, the Exarch's other hand finds its way to Ardbert's chin, tilting his head up. The Exarch, decisively, removes his fingers, eliciting a strained exhale from Ardbert. </p><p>Ardbert's head is still tilted back as the Exarch uses his free hand to pull down his underwear and hold his cock steady, pumping idly and coating himself in slick.</p><p>Even just the tip pressed into him causes Ardbert to let out a rough moan.</p><p>The Exarch slowly presses deeper inside, one hand supporting the small of Ardbert's back while the other cups his balls, fingers on the bottom of the shaft. He rocks his hips, breathy moans in between each thrust. Ardbert's mouth hangs open, his face shoved against a pillow and his moaning lost and muffled among the fabric. He needs the Exarch to keep going, to finish inside him, to sink away in the warmth of their two bodies, where the rest of the world is nothing but a feverish blur.</p><p>And then, the Warrior of Darkness opens their eyes. Their heart is racing, so fast Ardbert can hear it in their ears. He's back in the Pendants. On the First, where the window is secured by a hatch and two sweeping doors, not a curtain, and where sun pours in from the other side of the Crystarium.</p><p>And where the Exarch no longer is.  </p><p>Of course, it was just a dream. Of course, who is he kidding: himself, most of all. How could it be anything else? After all, it’s not like the Exarch would—<em> could </em>—care about Ardbert, would ever want to hold him so close, would ever want to love him. It’s the Warrior of Darkness he cares about, and,</p><p>“Is everything alright Ardbert?”</p><p><em> Aye, of course, of course! </em> Ardbert tells them, even though he’s made their body sweat bullets and awaken with a startling jolt. <em> Everything’s fine. Just a dream, just a dream is all. </em></p><p>The Warrior of Darkness yawns. They’re stripped down to just their underwear, lazing in bed with their back arched, legs spread apart and head sinking into the pillow. One hand reaches down and fiddles with their waistband. </p><p>
  <em> Someone is quite eager first thing in the morning. </em>
</p><p>A hand slips beneath the fabric, letting the slick coat their fingers and stain their underwear. The Warrior of Darkness pulls down their underwear by the waistband and starts rubbing the head of their cock.</p><p><em>'Just a dream', you say. </em>The Warrior of Darkness smiles devilishly<em>, </em>licking the cum off their fingers. <em>You think I don’t notice when you have a wet dream?</em></p><p>If a man could die from embarrassment alone, Ardbert would have done so eons ago. This is just insult to injury, making sure he can never come back to life lest the Warrior of Darkness mock him for all eternity.</p><p>He has nothing to say for himself, so he sits silently as they continue.</p><p>
  <em> You know, if you're interested in G'raha, you could just say so. I'm sure he'd love to get to know you better and I certainly don't mind playing a puppet while you two go and have a little date and maybe even have a tryst or— </em>
</p><p><em> Stop that! </em> He cuts them off. <em> At this point, you're doing this on purpose. </em></p><p>The Warrior of Darkness is a tease too. Seems they can't help it. He's trying to ignore the fact that their fingers are still in their mouth.</p><p>It's embarrassing to admit that he's come to care about the Exarch so much, especially when him and Ardbert are effectively strangers. It comes as but one of many things that Ardbert borrows from the Warrior of Darkness. To think of a love borrowed is a selfish thing, Ardbert berates himself over and over. But maybe the Warrior of Darkness is right. Maybe, by some wild stretch of the imagination, he and the Exarch could be friends.</p><p>With their other hand, Ardbert begins stroking them off, a steady pace while he's still lost in thought. He can't shake the image of the Exarch from his mind, his calloused hands around his hips, the dimples in his cheeks as he laughs, shallow and breathless. His fangs, leaving trails of purple and blue bruises.</p><p>He can't shake the image of the Exarch inside him.</p><p>The Warrior of Darkness finishes quickly, thick stains drawn across the curvature of their stomach and thighs. They laugh, a sharp exhale under his touch. With a smirk, they tell him: <em> I'll take that as a yes. </em></p><p>What a hassle to clean up after yourself first thing in the morning. That delivery for the Crystalline Mean will just have to wait. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i hope this is the kind of fic that you read and think "well maybe the author was having some kind of Moment when they wrote this."</p><p>because i was. i really was.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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